The Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore

Glass Cliff in India

1. Professor Grzegorz Trojanowski/Dr Rejie George Pallathita and Professor Vasanthi Srinivasan

Professor Trojanowski and colleagues from the Centre for Corporate Governance and Citizenship at IIM-B are examining determinants and consequences of board gender diversity in Indian companies.  In particular, they are investigating whether board gender diversity benefits performance of Indian companies and whether it translates into higher shareholder value.  The analyses also attempt to verify if Indian female directors also get appointed into precarious leadership positions (as it tends to be the case for their UK counterparts).  The project aims to verify whether some of the psychological and economic explanations of determinants and consequences of board gender diversity advanced by recent Western academic literature remain valid in a different cultural and social context.

Service Process Management

2. Professor Andi Smart, Dr Mike Williams and Professor John Bessant/Professor Haritha Saranga

A joint research project by faculty at Exeter and IIM-B (in collaboration with hospitals in both cities) is exploring ways in which health service productivity can be improved.  By investigating how Indian healthcare is organised and delivered with substantially less resources, it is hoped new systems can be implemented in the National Health Service (NHS) to improve quality, productivity and patient safety.  While many existing studies examine particular innovations in medical technology, or improved processes of care, researchers at Exeter and IIM-B will examine innovations at a structural and business model level to provide public policy advice in both countries.

Indian Corporate Governance

3. Dr Ajit Nayak/Professor Padmini Srinivasan, Professor Vasanthi Srinivasan and Professor Suresh Bhagavatula

Dr Nayak is working with the Centre for Corporate Governance and Citizenship at IIM-B on understanding the lives, networks and experiences of people on boards of Indian companies.  They are jointly investigating how individuals become part of the Indian corporate elite and how Indian companies manage issues such as corporate governance, leadership and innovation at the board level.  The project aims to understand the ways in which directors become alert to emerging opportunities, seek advice and resource from other corporate elites, share technological and human resource practices and create a sense of stewardship which is important for sustainable growth.

Explaining Optimism and Trust

4. Dr Surajeet Chakravarty and Dr Miguel Fonseca/Professor Kanchan Mukherjee

Action taken by decision-makers depends on how they perceive, understand and interpret the world around them.  A decision-maker who is emotionally or geographically closer to a decision problem may take a very different action to another decision-maker who is much more detached from the same problem.  Faculty at Exeter and IIM-B are collaborating to explain why decision-makers faced with certain problems often feel very optimistic in some circumstance and in other instances quite pessimistic.  Furthermore they are investigating how different levels of trust between individuals are determined by how attached or detached they are from a particular problem.  Their work uses a theory from decision sciences, and analyses its validity and predictions in various business problems by using standard game-theoretic settings in an experimental lab.  Professor Mukherjee provides the expertise in the area of decision sciences while Dr Fonseca and Dr Chakravarty contribute specifically in the area of game theory and experimental economics.  The project will involve doctoral students from IIM-B, providing them with access to the experimental lab at University of Exeter Business School, and to train them in conducting and using experiments as an invaluable research tool.